As Sandy Closes Schools, Parents Make Other Plans

A family shops for bottled water at a supermarket as Hurricane Sandy approaches in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood of Queens.

For many New York City parents, the decision to close public schools Monday – often a source of grumbling – was being received as the inevitable. With the public transportation system paralyzed, many students and parents are stranded and stuck home, anyway.

For the students, it was the glee of a snow day without the snow. The news went viral on Facebook and Twitter.

Noah said he declared his excitement on Facebook and his friends did, too, many expressing hope that Tuesday could be another day off.
His mother, Shoshanna Malett, said she was off of work Monday anyways so expects to be watching some of her son and 9-year-old daughter’s friends, as well.

“I offered to watch everybody’s kids so I may end up with a house full of kids, which is fine,” she said. “We went out and stocked up so I’m ok with it.”

What she and other parents said they appreciated was the early decision, which left parents plenty of time to make contingency plans.

“When you’re hearing at 5 or 6 in the morning it’s very difficult,” she said. “Whatever the decision is, if the decision is made the night before people can plan, so I think that is very helpful. And even if it’s more cautious and it ends up oversell, people are still planned for it.”

She said plans for Monday included watching a movie, doing some homework, and of course sleeping in. “Any day off school is a good day when you’re a kid,” she said.

Carin Barbanel, a Chelsea resident, said while she was fine with the decision to close schools, she did think the school system’s decision to reschedule the Specialized High School Admissions Test on Sunday was unfair. Students slated to take the test Saturday did so, but those who were signed up to take it Sunday now have until Nov. 18 to prepare for the exam, a requirement to get into the city’s most selective and prestigious high schools.

Though it doesn’t affect her children, Ms. Barbanel said her son, who goes to Stuyvesant High School, had been helping some friends study for the test but thought it unfair to continue since they would now have an unfair advantage. “I think that’s grossly unfair for the kids who are taking the test,” she said.

In general, Ms. Barbanel said the decision to close the schools seem justified.

“I feel like they have to just because it’s going to be impossible for teachers to get here,” she said. “That’s just life and you have to accept it. Things happen.”

“Do I think the storm is going to be as bad as they say?” she added. “Absolutely not. But given that the entire region is shutting down you have to go with it.”

Her son and daughter, who are in ninth- and sixth-grade, respectfully, had already placed an order for seven books at Barnes & Noble, which she was going to pick up on Sunday.